The Cape Province of South Africa, an area of 100 square miles at the tip of the continent, is a botanical wonderland. Two-thirds of its plants are endemic, meaning they occur nowhere else in the world. This peninsula, isolated from other land masses by two oceans, with Table Mountain rising 3,500 feet above Cape Town, offers great varieties in elevation, and has a mild mediterranean climate like our own. This climate, wet in winter and dry in summer, encourages enormous diversity. In fact, more than 8,550 plant species have been counted here, twice as many as in California.

The Silver Tree is native only to the slopes of Table Mountain. It is called silver because its soft, 6 - 8" elliptical leaves, which remain on the trees for several years giving it evergreen status, are covered with hairs that look astonishingly like silver in the daylight. Leucadendron argenteum can reach fifty feet in height and develops beautiful, vanilla-scented apricot flowers the size of a golf ball. Its bark is corky and pale gray in color with distinctive horizontal furrows as it ages. Sadly, it was once abundant in its native range, seeding readily after brush fires, but it is now endangered because of a beetle that bores into its bark causing mortal injury.

Contributors: Docents Joanne Taylor and Kathy McNeil

Archive 2015

2014

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2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Magnolia doltsopa

February

Magnolia dawsoniana

January

Magnolia campbellii 'Strybing White'

February

Magnolia laevifolia 'Strybing Compact'

March

Aristolochia californica

April

Chlorogalum pomeridianum

May

Arbutus menziesii

June

Romneya coulteri

July

Cistus sp.

August

Rosmarinus sp.

September

Dahlia spp.

October

Salvia cacaliifolia

November

Salvia microphylla'Hot Lips'

November

Magnolia campbellii

January

Magnolia denudata

February

Magnolia x veitchii

March

Iris douglasiana

April

Aesculus californica

May

Vaccinium ovatum

June

Sambucus racemosa

July

Sequoia sempervirens

August

Asarum caudatum

September

Deppea splendens

October

Montanoa spp.

November

Bidens sp.

December

Acer palmatum 'Sango kaku'

January

Magnolia campbellii 'Darjeeling'

February

Bomarea spp.

March

Rhododendron occidentale

April

Polystichum munitum

May

x Chiranthofremontia lenzii

June

Salvia leucantha

July

Hydrangea seemannii

August

Wollemia nobilis

September

Cyathea cooperi

October

Pinus radiata

November

Correa spp.

December

Garrya elliptica

January

Magnolia x soulangeana

February

Senecio glastifolius

March

Ribes spp.

April

Oxalis oregana

May

Calandrinia grandiflora

June

Taxus baccata

July

Romneya coulteri

August

Passiflora parritae

September

Malvaviscus arboreus

October

Monterey Cypress

November

Aloe arborescens

December

Aloe plicatilis

January

Banksia seminuda

February

Zantedeschia aethiopica

March

Magnolia laevifolia

April

Araucaria heterophylla

May

Toxicodendron diversilobum

June

Clarkia sp.

July

Agapanthus

August

Brugmansia

September

Cedrus spp.

October

Protea repens

November

Camellia sinensis

December

Thujopsis dolabrata

January

Gordonia longicarpa

February

Rojasianthe superba

March

Echium spp.

April

Iris douglasiana

May

Digitalis purpurea

June

Felicia amelloides

July

Ceroxylon quindiuense

August

Amaryllis belladonna

September

Ginkgo biloba

October

Acer morrisonense

November

Ilex aquifolium

December

Picea sitchensis

January

Telanthophora grandifolia

February

Aeonium arboreum 'Schwartzkopf'

March

Leptospermum

April

Salvia gesneraeflora

May

Lavandula spp.

June

Pelargonium

July

Fuchsia paniculata

August

Luma apiculata

September

Luculia

October

Arbutus unedo

November

Cycad

December

Restionaceae

January

Hellebores

February

Ceanothus

March

Rhododendron

April

Psoralea pinnata

May

Fremontodendron californicum

June

Leucadendron argenteum

July

Crocosmia

August

Gunnera tinctoria

September

Pellaea rotundifolia

October

Fuchsia boliviana

November

Erica canaliculata

December

Magnolia campbelli

January

Magnolia denudata

February

Camellia

March

Geranium maderense

April

Acmena smithii

May

Eschscholzia californica

June

Dendromecon harfordii

July

Romneya coulteri

August

Eupatorium purpureum

September

Epilobium canum sp.

October

Grevillea spp.

November

Drimys winteri

December

San Francisco Botanical Garden's beauty and value as a major cultural resource are the result of a successful public/private partnership between San Francisco Botanical Garden Society and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.